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Procedure price report · Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology)

Hepatitis C virus test by amplified probe

CPT 87521the billing code this page is about

A genetic test that detects hepatitis C virus by copying and amplifying its genetic material, including the reverse transcription step when performed; reports presence, not amount.

Hospitals typically charge $169 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,889 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $178. Most fall between $66 and $356 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,889
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 1,889 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$42$80$169$300$506

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($42 vs $506).

How the prices are spread

$35 – $48: 129 hospitals$35$48 – $65: 143 hospitals$65 – $88: 143 hospitals$65$88 – $119: 209 hospitals$119 – $162: 196 hospitals$119$162 – $220: 238 hospitals$220 – $299: 264 hospitals$220$299 – $406: 170 hospitals$406 – $552: 146 hospitals$406$552 – $750: 66 hospitals$552median $169price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,704 of 1,889 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$35$48129
$48$65143
$65$88143
$88$119209
$119$162196
$162$220238
$220$299264
$299$406170
$406$552146
$552$75066

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $169.

Alaska: median $182 across 12 hospitalsAK$182Maine: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $185 across 10 hospitalsNH$185Washington: median $137 across 37 hospitalsWA$137Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $79 across 34 hospitalsMN$79Illinois: median $267 across 97 hospitalsIL$267Wisconsin: median $220 across 43 hospitalsWI$220Michigan: median $70 across 48 hospitalsMI$70New York: median $96 across 72 hospitalsNY$96Massachusetts: median $264 across 29 hospitalsMA$264Oregon: median $214 across 33 hospitalsOR$214Nevada: median $220 across 15 hospitalsNV$220Wyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $121 across 15 hospitalsSD$121Iowa: median $91 across 33 hospitalsIA$91Indiana: median $138 across 65 hospitalsIN$138Ohio: median $213 across 88 hospitalsOH$213Pennsylvania: median $148 across 79 hospitalsPA$148New Jersey: median $40 across 48 hospitalsNJ$40Connecticut: median $130 across 11 hospitalsCT$130Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $62 across 81 hospitalsCA$62Utah: median $334 across 35 hospitalsUT$334Colorado: median $261 across 47 hospitalsCO$261Nebraska: median $274 across 31 hospitalsNE$274Missouri: median $234 across 54 hospitalsMO$234Kentucky: median $178 across 37 hospitalsKY$178West Virginia: median $201 across 24 hospitalsWV$201Virginia: median $177 across 51 hospitalsVA$177Maryland: median $339 across 23 hospitalsMD$339Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $228 across 26 hospitalsAZ$228New Mexico: median $261 across 10 hospitalsNM$261Kansas: median $216 across 38 hospitalsKS$216Arkansas: median $141 across 22 hospitalsAR$141Tennessee: median $91 across 44 hospitalsTN$91North Carolina: median $246 across 58 hospitalsNC$246South Carolina: median $245 across 33 hospitalsSC$245Oklahoma: median $145 across 49 hospitalsOK$145Louisiana: median $87 across 36 hospitalsLA$87Mississippi: median $110 across 26 hospitalsMS$110Alabama: median $161 across 20 hospitalsAL$161Georgia: median $124 across 77 hospitalsGA$124Hawaii: median $213 across 12 hospitalsHI$213Texas: median $262 across 146 hospitalsTX$262Florida: median $75 across 91 hospitalsFL$75
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $169. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Maryland MD23$339+100%$234 – $436
Utah UT35$334+97%$275 – $393
Nebraska NE31$274+62%$91 – $429
Illinois IL97$267+58%$150 – $487
Massachusetts MA29$264+56%$87 – $422
Texas TX146$262+55%$155 – $904
Colorado CO47$261+54%$172 – $569
New Mexico NM10$261+54%$113 – $319
North Carolina NC58$246+45%$58 – $489
South Carolina SC33$245+45%$100 – $451
Missouri MO54$234+38%$164 – $420
Arizona AZ26$228+35%$161 – $318
Wisconsin WI43$220+30%$165 – $226
Nevada NV15$220+30%$74 – $442
Kansas KS38$216+28%$88 – $400
Oregon OR33$214+26%$107 – $300
Ohio OH88$213+26%$114 – $443
Hawaii HI12$213+26%$91 – $466
West Virginia WV24$201+19%$120 – $336
New Hampshire NH10$185+9%$65 – $693
Alaska AK12$182+7%$141 – $672
Kentucky KY37$178+5%$95 – $442
Virginia VA51$177+5%$114 – $306
Alabama AL20$161−5%$99 – $223
Pennsylvania PA79$148−12%$40 – $311
Oklahoma OK49$145−14%$99 – $267
Arkansas AR22$141−16%$83 – $203
Indiana IN65$138−18%$57 – $442
Washington WA37$137−19%$75 – $224
Connecticut CT11$130−23%$119 – $188
Georgia GA77$124−27%$66 – $366
South Dakota SD15$121−28%$80 – $133
Mississippi MS26$110−35%$57 – $233
New York NY72$96−43%$42 – $331
Tennessee TN44$91−46%$61 – $214
Iowa IA33$91−46%$67 – $222
Louisiana LA36$87−48%$48 – $133
Minnesota MN34$79−53%$64 – $286
Florida FL91$75−56%$36 – $171
Michigan MI48$70−59%$45 – $159
California CA81$62−64%$50 – $106
New Jersey NJ48$40−76%$35 – $119
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $169.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,425$158$62 – $352
Children’s51$223$59 – $275
Critical access407$202$100 – $374
Ownership
For-profit295$220$84 – $693
Government298$181$72 – $332
Non-profit1,290$160$63 – $334
System affiliation
Part of a system1,572$168$64 – $362
Independent317$174$81 – $331

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$312
Median cash price$169
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

1,267 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $169 and the average of the middle 60% is $175; most fall between $67 and $334.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,267 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$49$84$169$277$454

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($49 vs $454).

Of the 1,408 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,267 gave a usable cash price; 72 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 69 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,889 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (48%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,053 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,889
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here85
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded78
Hospitals that filed this code2,053

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between July 20, 2026 and September 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Hcv Nat.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Hepatitis C virus test by amplified probe (CPT 87521) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87521-hepatitis-c-virus-test-by-amplified-probe